Bellevue Days - Faith

27 June, 2017

Written by
Becky Mahon

Croydon grungers Bellevue Days have been making a bit of a name for themselves lately. After the success of previous EP Sad Boy and a string of support slots for Counterfeit and The Story So Far, their social media following is growing and growing.

‘Faith’ is the second track to be taken from the soon to be released EP Rosehill. This marks a change from the usual line up as frontman Alan Smith steps aside to allow Dan Lukes to show off his vocal talents as he takes centre stage. Dan, who originally wrote the song over a year ago as an acoustic number said of the track, “It's about the way religion is sometimes used as a tool to abuse and degrade people.” Which is a clear message in the song as Dan uses his powerful voice to scream “I don’t need your faith to get me through”

The honesty of the lyrics is one of the high points and also a personal touchstone for Dan who wrote the song about a friend. He said “I wrote it after a friend of mine who grew up in a very religious community was trying to open their mind a bit, but the way they grew up and the people around them were making life hell.” Whilst the lyrics may come across as an attack on religion, Dan wanted to make it clear that isn’t what the song is about. He said “It's not a dig at any one religion or religion as a whole, just the way some people use it to justify abuse.”

‘Faith’ takes you on an unnerving rollercoaster ride, with a skittery drum beat easing you into the raucous punch of the chorus. Dan’s vocals shine through, teasing with soft ease through the verses before releasing his inner aggression and equally impressive set of pipes during the chorus and climatic ending. The song is heavier than previous Bellevue Days tracks as they and Jason Wilson, who has also mixed and mastered previous Bellevue Days EPs, You Me At Six and Don Broco, decided to take a more aggressive approach for Rosehill. The angst and rawness leads to an original and one heck of a memorable sound, proving that Bellevue Days are ahead of the game.